CARMEN-TERNARIUM SEMI-CYNICUM.
A DOS, of RIME and REASON:
Presented by Major Geo. Wither, to some of his noble Friends,
Members of the most honorable House of Commons.
1.
FRiends,
by your leave; and, in a
Cynic-time,
If I present you with a
Doggrell-Rime,
Impute it not, I pray you, as a crime:
For, whatsoever occasion her excites,
My
Muse
weighs
what,
and unto whom she writes;
And, though she grumbles, neither snarles, nor bites.
2.
'It is now, a
Pentecost,
and six weeks more,
Since I was last a Suitor at your door;
For, 'twas your
Christmas
Eves-Eve heretofore:
Yea, 'twas the
Morne
that next ensu'd the day,
Wherein you did convene to fast, and pray,
That, what you now are planting, prosper may.
3.
God grant your
Suits
may better thrive then mine;
God give you of your
hopes
a better sign;
And, more to
you,
then
you
to me incline:
For, if much longer, I be now delayed,
My just
Demands,
to me had best been paid,
If, at the first, they had been quite denay'd.
4.
This, is (in
print
and writing) since th' Edition
Of that, which first made known my sad condition,
At least the twice ten hundredth
Repetition;
Yet, most
Complaints,
that I have tendered,
Seem; as if neither heeded, heard, nor read,
And, take effect, like
Prayers
to the
Dead.
5.
This, is above the
six and thirti'th year,
Since first, my
Muses
flung defiance, here,
Against their
ways,
who now your foes appear;
Yet, they who slight your
Cause,
have better far'd;
They, who destroy you, have had more regard,
And, oft you hear them, when I am unheard.
6.
This, is the ninth or tenth
now-minted-way,
By which, I have took occasion to assay;
How, I might find acceptance, when I pray;
Yet, nor choice
Times,
nor
Seasons, Rimes
nor
Prose,
Service
to you, hot
Suffrings,
by your foes,
Produce ought hitherto; but
empty-shows.
7.
This, is the
seventh year,
since I begun
To suffer with you, and to be undone,
For, being, to your
Cause,
a
Faithful-one;
Yet, have my Foes prevailed, by their
Charmes,
To make my faithfulness increase my harms,
And, crushed me, nigh to death, even in your
Arms.
8.
This, is the
third month,
since a hopeful
sign,
Made show, as if you jointly did incline
To be aspitious to such
plaints
as mine:
Yet, still, cross accidents make vold my suit,
With my estate, destroying my repute,
And, I get naught, but
blossoms
without
fruit.
9.
Two twelve months
since, and twice within that space,
Your
House,
hath in compassion of my
case,
Refer'd the naming of me to some
Place,
That, till the
Public
shall repay my debt,
I, by my labors, might subsistence get;
But, no effect thereof, appeareth, yet.
10.
A place was once proposed, for which, to clear
My debt, I offer made: But,
one
sat there,
Who, whilst I beat the bush, did catch the Hare.
Another, I was named to; but, ere I
Could get the same reported, they, who try
The surest course, found means to put me by.
11.
To twenty other
places,
I of late
Was named, wherein, I might have served the
State,
If, I, like other men, had
Friends
or
Fate:
But, they that have enough, must, yet, have more;
They, who are needy, must be still kept poor,
And, he gets most, that had too much before.
12.
Nor would I grudge, might I my own receive,
To miss the best preferments you could give;
For, I can find myself work whilst I live:
And, should be better pleased to possess
My self, in an obscured quietness,
Then, in the greatest of your Offices.
13.
And, peradventure, better thrive should I,
If, I could still believe, undoubtingly,
That, in this
world,
my
portion
doth not lie:
For, whatsoever promise she doth make,
Or, whatsoever likely course I take,
I, either nothing win, or lose my stake,
14.
Yea, whosoever are put
out
or
in;
Whether you
feast,
or
fast,
or
lose,
or
win,
My portion,
to this day, the same hath been;
And, neither
Orders, Votes,
nor
Ordinances,
Nor ought else, hitherto, my cause advances;
But, multiplies, cost, troubles, and mischances.
15.
They, who heed this; and, mark how long I sue
For that, which you yourselves acknowledge due,
Suppose my
Friends
unkind, or, very few:
And, so shall I think too; if, when I see
The
grand-affairs
dispensed withal may be,
You, more consider not, my wants and me.
16.
For, though the
Public cause
should be prefer'd,
Some hours, for
private causes,
must be spared,
Lest, none be left, the
Public
to regard.
Your
Public actings
too, (as I conceive)
Would better thrive, did you more oft relieve
Their
sufferings,
whom, your long
demurrers
grieve.
17.
Three months (at full) you have delayed to hear
All private
pressures,
how extreme soe're;
Yea, though your faithful friends the
Suitors
were:
Yet, you could, then, allow spare time for those,
Who were your willful and condemned Foes:
And, grace you did vouchsafe, to some of those.
18.
To none I grudge your mercy: yet, withal
I wish, that you to mind would likewise call,
How, to your
friends,
worse things then
Death
befall:
For,
Penitents
condemned, can but die:
Which, were it in my power, disdain would I,
To ask, what any mortal could deny.
19.
To see ourselves, with many mischiefs hemn'd,
Pursu'd by
Foes,
and of our
Friends
contemned,
Is worse, then guiltlesly to be condemned.
Yea, to behold their Families undone,
Who, for the
public,
did that hazard run,
Deserves more pity, then a
dying-groan.
20.
Although the
Public Wants,
be very great,
The Public-Justice, it doth ill befit
That, some,
large-Favor
find; some,
never a whit:
That, some, should likewise have immediate pay;
Some, interest at full, for all delay;
Some others,
nothing,
after six years stay.
21.
That he, to whom the
State
doth nothing owe,
Should rich, by three or four
employments
grow,
Whilst they pine, who, thereon did all bestow:
And, that those who have spent more precious time,
To serve you, then the whole earth can redeem,
Should scarce find one half-hour, befriending them.
22.
Consider, I beseech you, how ye may
(Before all
Opportunities
are slipped away)
Preserve their
being,
who assist you may;
And, let them not be needlessly destroyed,
By whom, your
safety,
may be best enjoyd;
And, with whose
hopes,
yours, also, will be void.
23.
Nor think yourselves excused, if you deny
To yield me at my need, a due supply;
Because, five hundred want as much as I:
For, no good
Principle,
they build upon
Who shall resolve, they will be kind to
none,
Because, they cannot succor
everyone.
24.
We who are
Standers-by,
do plainly see,
That, if
self-seekers
might removed be,
(Or, would in just, and righteous things agree)
Both
Means,
and
Time
enough might, yet, be found,
To make the sick
Republic,
quickly sound,
And, ease the smart of every private wound.
25.
Yea, we perceive, that if division were
Well made, of what the
common purse
may spare;
(Of
places,
which at your disposure are)
And, of your
time
and
pains;
you might have eased
Your selves much more; your best friends, more have pleased,
And, kept off
troubles,
which on us have seized.
26.
New
States
and
Governments,
best founded are
By
Justice,
and by
Mercy;
and, to spare
A
Largesse
too, it now convenient were:
At least, we may expect, as well as you,
Subsistence out of that which is our due,
To keep us able, who were always true.
27.
For, what will it avail you, when your friends,
Who, might be serviceable to your ends,
Want means to further what the State intends?
Or, with what courage, can those men go on,
To help you, in that work which is begun,
If, they must perish, e're it shall be done?
28.
What can they hope for, when their
Foe
shall reign,
Who, whilst their
Friends
rule, sue seven years, in vain,
(Not
Favors
) but, bare
Justice
to obtain?
Yet, get naught visible, wherewith to cherish
Their children (which through want are like to perish)
Except perchance a Pension from their Parish.
29.
My case is not so bad: But, if you thought
How near thereto, I am drove; how low I am brought,
And, what hard lessons I am daily taught,
You would excuse this
discomposed-strain,
Believe my head broke, e're you saw my brain;
And, let me sue, and wait, no more in vain.
30.
For, if extremities compel me should
To sum up all, which I in scraps have told,
(And justly might have added, if I would)
They, who observe the love to me pretended,
How known I am, and yet how ill befriended,
Would quite despair, to see their troubles ended.
31.
Fair promises, prove neither flesh nor fish;
My gains are, hitherto, not worth a rush;
But that befalls me, which my Foes do wish.
For, when to do me right, fit time there was,
Some friends lackt power; some, were not then in place;
And, some, that had the power, had not the grace.
32.
Your
Ordinance,
the Lord's concurrence lackt,
And, my estate, and credit, will be cracked,
Unless, with speed, you turn into an
Act;
Few minutes may complete it, which I pray
Vouchsafe; For, by the late three months delay,
I, six months interest, am like to pay.
33.
Bis dat, qui cito dat,
the
Proverb
says;
And, 'tis as true, that, he, who long delays
A
Favor
or a
Gift,
naught
gives,
or
pays.
For, by
delay,
thus fareth it with most,
That, by vexation, labor, time, and cost,
The profits of slow Benefits, are lost.
34.
But, I, this
Theam,
have long enough persude:
Lest, therefore it may tire you (to obtrude
Much more upon your patience) I will conclude:
Yea, for a few days, here I will make a stop;
And, if I then, accomplish not my hope,
I will play but one
Card
more; and, so, give up.
35.
As much for others sakes, as for mine own
This sense, of private sufferings, I have shown:
And hope, it will with good effects be known,
For, when I mind what work you have to do,
And, how few, put their helping hands thereto,
I can excuse you; and, have oft done so.
FINIS.